2. Matthew 5:17-21
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets [O.T. Scriptures]; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

3. Matthew 5:17-21
For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

4. Matthew 5:17-21
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

5. Matthew 5:17-21
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

6. Matthew 1:18-19
NRSV
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph—

7. Matthew 1:18-19
NRSV
“—Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.”

9. Deuteronomy 10:12-13
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

11. The Gift of Being Yourself
David Benner
“Every time I dare to meet God in the vulnerability of my sin and shame, this knowing is strengthened.
Knowing = the experience of God’s love for him

12. The Gift of Being Yourself
David Benner
Every time I fall back into self-improvement mode and try to bring God my best self, it is weakened. I only know Divine unconditional, radical and reckless love for me when I dare approach God just as I am. The more I have the courage to meet God in this place of weakness, the more I will know myself to be truly and deeply loved by God.

13. The Gift of Being Yourself
David Benner
And the more deeply I know this love, the easier it will be to trust it as Christ did—preferring God’s will to my own.”

14. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me,
a sinner.

15. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me,
a sinner.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Matthew 5:7